


Easter Sunday

by imaginethat57



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, Family Fluff, Little angsty in the beginning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-16
Updated: 2017-04-16
Packaged: 2018-10-19 16:54:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10644096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imaginethat57/pseuds/imaginethat57
Summary: Regina is always alone on holidays, so she doesn't know why she thought this year would be any different. Except, that it is.





	

Regina chewed her bottom lip as she stared at the ham in her refrigerator. It was huge, she knew it. She and Henry would never be able to eat it all. She’d known that when she bought it, and she’d known that as she prepared it earlier that morning. Now she placed it back in the fridge, waiting to be baked later that afternoon. She looked at it with her arms folded and her shoulders drawn high near her ears.

She’d be lying if she said she hadn’t bought it in the hopes that she would be feeding more than just herself and Henry. She might have pictured, while she was staring into the refrigerated bin with all the spiral hams at the grocery store, a family gathering. She would host, of course, she was always the hostess. That’s why she was buying the ham. They could be together, they could laugh and eat and drink, and Regina might for once feel like she was loved on a holiday. She might spend a holiday surrounded by family, specifically a family that cared about her.

But of course that had been a pipe dream. She had gotten her hopes up, bought the ham, and then gone promptly to invite them to her home. Her family, she had come to think of them. She’d found Emma and Snow eating in the diner, and approached them with a nervous, childlike smile on her face.

But then she’d heard them talking, talking about their own Easter plans. There was an egg hunt at the elementary school that Snow wanted to attend with Neal. And she wanted Emma to come too. And David, and Henry of course. And she’d gone on about how they could all go back to the loft together and have lunch together.

So Regina had walked away before they had noticed her, and wiped at the tears as subtly as she could as she left the diner. That afternoon when Henry came home from school he had told Regina about the egg hunt, and how he’d been invited to go. She had given him a smile, as best as she could manage, and told him he could go. He had stayed at Emma’s last night, but he was supposed to be home for dinner that night, and they’d eat the ham together. She supposed she could have ham sandwiches for a month after.

A knock at her door sounded, and she jolted. She closed the door to her refrigerator, and made her way to her foyer. She smoothed her lavender dress down as she approached her front door, then opened it. In front of her stood Emma Swan. She was holding her brother Neal, now three years old and dressed in his Easter best. He squealed with joy when he saw Regina, and she couldn’t help but smile herself as the boy dived into her arms from his perch on Emma’s hip.

Regina caught him, and held him close in a hug. She kissed his hair, and snuggled him. After a moment, he wormed out of the cuddle and placed both his chubby hands on her cheeks with a smile.

“Happy Easter R’gina!” He practically shrieked.

She chuckled, then shifted him to her hip as she calmly replied, “Happy Easter to you, young man.”

She finally turned her attention to Emma, who was watching her with the brightest smile. She hadn’t noticed before, but Snow, David, and Henry were standing a little bit down the walkway.

“What are you all doing here?” She asked, voice quiet and a little shy.

“Well, Henry forgot he was supposed to invite you to the Easter celebrations.” Emma replied.

“What?” Regina asked, astonished. She looked to Henry, and he was smiling sheepishly at her.

“I’m sorry, Mom. I forgot at first, and then I figured Emma or Grandma would have done it. I just didn’t think.” Henry explained.

Regina felt a few tears begin to spring up, and a sensation of hope plumed in her chest. But she didn’t dare let herself feel happy, not until someone actually said the words that they wanted her there. She looked to Snow, and waited with wide eyes.

“We can’t do Easter without you there, Regina. You’re family.” Snow said.

Neal bounced up and down on Regina’s hip and cried, “R’gina, you hafta watch me find eggs. I’m going to find eggs with candy!”

“Well, then I guess I have no choice.” She whispered, smiling at the boy indulgently. “Let me just go grab my keys and my bag, and I’ll join you all.”

Snow walked up to the door, and Neal happily shifted back into his mother’s arms. Regina ducked inside and grabbed her things, then came back out to the door. She locked it behind her, then stepped onto the walkway with her family. _My family_ , she thought to herself, unable to suppress the smile that came to her.

She started to walk down the path, when Emma grabbed her hand. She looked at her, confused, and waited for Emma to explain. She tried not to gulp audibly at the contact, and ignored the pleasant rumbling in her stomach at the feeling of holding Emma’s hand.

“Henry told us you bought an Easter ham.” Emma said.

That had not been what Regina was expecting. “Oh, well, yes I did.”

“He also told us you bought a ham big enough to feed an army.” Emma continued.

Regina looked at her shoes, and tried to fight the flush of embarrassment spreading across her cheeks. “It’s not that big.” She muttered.

“Here’s the thing. Snow didn’t realize you had thought ahead, that maybe you wanted to host?” Emma left it as a question, and Regina shrugged in answer, so she went on, “Well, I know Henry eats like a bottomless pit, but even he won’t eat twenty pounds of ham. And, I don’t want to be pushy, and invite us over, but Snow also isn’t really good at planning ahead.”

“Hey!” Snow interjected, but Emma waved her off. “She didn’t buy enough ingredients for a family meal today.” She finished explaining.

“What are you saying?” Regina asked with narrowed eyes. “You want to come here and eat my food?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.” Emma said with a chuckle. But she humbled, then said, “What I mean is, if you had planned to invite over your family for Easter, and we somehow wrecked it, we would like the chance to make it up to you.”

Regina looked around at everyone, and they all had hopeful, if not bashful expressions. She smiled, and clutched her stomach for a moment, wondering if this was really happening. She dipped her head as she said, “Well it is a very large ham. I didn’t really intend for it to feed only Henry and myself. You may come to dinner if you like.”

“We’d definitely like.” David said, and everyone else nodded.

“Well then I guess that’s settled then.” Regina whispered. Snow practically squealed in excitement, and she crushed Regina into a hug, with Regina’s hand still in Emma’s and Neal squished between them. When Neal started to squirm and huff, “Mommy!” Snow backed off.

Regina cleared her throat, and gestured to the street where they could walk to the egg hunt. “Shall we?”

She expected Emma to drop her hand, her piece was said and the plans had been made. But instead, Emma laced their fingers together and squeezed as they began to walk. Regina stared at their joined hands for a moment, then turned her gaze to Emma’s face. She was smiling contently. Regina watched in wonder. Emma’s thumb began to stroke over the back of her hand, and Regina felt the heat flooding her cheeks again. But she didn’t say anything or make any move to stop Emma.

The group continued down Mifflin street, with Neal happily chattering away. And Regina couldn’t stop her beatific smile. _My family._


End file.
